Teaching in Circles: My Journeys in Teaching High School

by Nathan Miller

Teaching is a profession of passion and disillusionment. People go into the profession expecting to shape young minds and educate the future leaders of our society. Many young teachers become frustrated with their chosen profession and leave it to find other careers. The ones that stay struggle with similar issues and have both good days and bad days. Teaching in Circles is a series of stories about a teacher and his thoughts on his profession, stories of the things he struggles with daily, and his eventual decision to remain a teacher.

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2008

About the author

Nathan Miller received his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University of Maryland before becoming a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He spent more than 15 years as a journalist, including a three-year tour as the paper's chief Latin American correspondent, based in Rio de Janeiro, before becoming an investigator and speechwriter for Sen. John L. McClellan on the permanent subcommittee on investigations and later the Senate Appropriations Committee. Miller left the congressional staff in 1977 to be a full-time freelance writer.

Reviews

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this memoir because Nathan Miller teaches high school English (which is my plan for next year, economy willing) and theater (which would also be my plan if I had any practical experience other than reading and watching scores of plays). What I didn't realize from the misleadingly sappy and optimistic dustjacket is that _Teaching in Circles_ is not the memoir of a content and fulfilled teacher ready to pass on his wisdom to future generations. And thank goodness, really, because what Miller offers instead is much more honest and interesting.
Miller is brutally honest, frequently self-critical, bitterly sarcastic, and full of doubts - just like many of the good but struggling teachers that I know and also like the teacher I might become. There are high points of course, such as Miller's inspiring trip with students to London (something I will definitely fight to do now that I know it can be done). Overall, however, the book is incredibly depressing. He covers many of the commonly stated problems with the teaching profession - being overworked and underpaid with few opportunities for advancement, appreciation, or concrete success, for example, not to mention the wreck that is the American education system in general - and relates other injustices and frustrations that I hadn't even anticipated. His solutions generally consist of lowering his expectations, not exactly an uplifting thesis. The most depressing part of all is that Miller does not seem to be exaggerating or even trying to make his book depressing. He is trying to figure things out, to find hope, to find reason, but too often he finds a relentless tedium punctuated by tragedy. His experience is by no means unique, but it was good to hear. And like Miller I left the book weighed down but not forgetting those moments that can sometimes make it worth it. I would have loved to hear more. If Miller stays in the teaching profession for another decade I hope that he writes another one.

[Suebee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a teacher, and I don't know if there is much of an audience for this book. I know that the author wanted his points to be heard about the difficulties of teaching high school in suburban Minnesota, but I felt like he would have been better served just starting a blog than writing this book.

Miller details his experiences teaching 9th grade English and directing plays at a Minnesota high school - how he knows many kids just aren't getting or relating to Shakespeare, how a theater director confronted him about his lack of efficiency in designing a set for a high school show, and his double-mindedness about wanting to be a teacher in the first place (acting was where he would have loved to end up).

Teachers who read books by other teachers want a cathartic experience - either laugh-out-loud "Oh yeah I've been there" anecdotes about students, or some sort of "here's what I've learned from years of doing this" type thing. Miller's book is neither. It's rather depressing, and he can't really go into specifics about life at his school since he's still employed there! Not my favorite book.

[Juliette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed reading this honest memoir about being a teacher. Miller openly shares the challenges & loneliness than can accompany teaching. I think this book may be helpful to anyone wondering about staying in the profession. Like any good advice, this book made me feel less alone. Yes, Miller is cynical and doesn't always make the perfect decisions, but I liked that it wasn't a "I'm perfect/brilliant/be just like me" type of teaching memoir. Miller teaches English in a high school in Rosemont, MN (a suburb of Mpls/St.Paul).

[Brandi Moore-Declue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am only about 10 pages into this book, but it had some good reviews, so I thought I would give it a try.